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WASHINGTON (CBSDC) - Even with Stephen Strasburg off to a notably slow start for a guy expected to be among baseball’s elite, you’d still be hard pressed to a find a GM in the league who wouldn’t have the Nats hurler at the top of his wish list if he became available.

But there’s one former general manager who wouldn’t.

MLB Network’s Jim Duquette, who’s held court over both the O’s and Mets front offices, actually prefers another starter within the NL East.

“I’ve been saying this and I’m going to come on a Washington radio station and say this, I like Harvey better than Strasburg,” Duquette told the Junkies on 106.7 The Fan Thursday.

“But it doesn’t mean that I don’t like Strasburg,” he continued. “It just means how much I really like Harvey. He has all of the elements that you’re looking for with a top of the rotation-type starter, plus he has the command, plus he has the makeup and the grit and he’s kind of a throwback really; a Roger Clemens throwback.”

It’s just that Matt Harvey (4-0) – who was perfect through six and two-thirds the other night against Chicago – has been a lot better. Comparatively, through 49 innings, he’s rocking a 1.28 ERA/0.69 WHIP with 58 strike outs.

“I did say this about Stras, you’d like to see him maybe show a little bit more emotion on the mound. I think he does later in the game, but I’d like to see it from the very beginning. Harvey has done that. From the moment he comes out of the bullpen it’s like he’s breathing fire.

“Harvey has done that. From the moment he comes out of the bullpen it’s like he’s breathing fire.”

Duquette did have some nice things to say about Strasburg. You can hear those in the clip below…